Boulder County proceeds with just-in-case plan for repaving subdivision roads

By John FryarLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
09/10/2013 10:17:21 PM MDT

Updated:
09/10/2013 10:17:46 PM MDT

BOULDER -- Boulder County commissioners have taken an initial step toward a "Plan B" for rehabilitating paved rural residential subdivision roads, in case those subdivision voters reject "Plan A," a ballot proposal to issue bonds and levy property taxes to pay for most of that work.

Commissioners Deb Gardner and Elise Jones approved a resolution Tuesday creating a "local improvement district" that would assess unincorporated county subdivision property owners the costs of repairing their paved roads over the coming 15 years.

Commissioner Cindy Domenico was not present at Tuesday morning's meeting.

The annual assessments that the county's local improvement district would bill each affected rural residential subdivision property would not be a property tax. The county's annual charges would, however, be based on a formula that considers each property's assessed value and the length of paved county roads in that property's subdivision.

Boulder County officials have estimated that using a local improvement district to reconstruct and repave about 150 miles of paved roads in nearly 120 unincorporated county subdivisions could total $72 million. The county plans to contribute 20 percent, which would leave property owners a projected $57.6 million obligation.

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The resolution adopted Tuesday estimates that the average annual cost per property owners over the 15-year life of the local improvement district would be $353. But it also notes that any remaining costs exceeding current projections would be paid "from an additional assessment as necessary."

Commissioners have scheduled a 4 p.m. Oct. 21 public hearing before the county board formally authorizes the road improvements. Another hearing would be held after the Nov. 5 election -- one to formally assess the specific properties that would be billed the costs of the local improvement district's 15 years of road rehabilitation projects -- if voters reject the commissioners' "Plan A."

Under that Plan A, Boulder County has asked subdivision residents to approve creation of a permanent "public improvement district" to allow the sale of $30 million in bonds to finance the initial stages of that road work immediately; and to authorize the county to levy up to a $7.15 million property tax annually to repay those bonds and cover road-rehabilitation expenses.

Commissioners and their staff have argued that a PID, and the bonds being proposed to accelerate the rehabilitation work, would be more cost effective and carry lower annual charges for subdivision properties over the next 15 years. After the initial 15 years, a public improvement district would continue to collect property taxes to keep those rehabilitated roads in good shape. An LID would expire after 15 years' time, leaving no source of revenue to address road repair needs, county officials have said.

Many subdivision property owners, however, have contended that it's the county's financial responsibility to rehabilitate their crumbling roads, and not theirs. A number of those property owners have promised they'll sue Boulder County if the PID taxing idea is defeated on Nov. 5 and the county tries to bill them those costs through charges assessed by an LID that voters haven't authorized.